It did not take long for League of Legends to come up with its own turn-based autobattler game with Teamfight Tactics (TFT). For those not familiar, this mode is inspired by none other than Dota Auto Chess.
League of Legends revealed that the TFT mode is going to be accessible to all players, whether veterans or newbies, as long as they have a League of Legends account. With this mode, players can experience their favorite champions and even the abilities and items that they are familiar with. The only difference is that they do it outside of the usual MOBA format.
In TFT, a total of eight players face off in 1-on-1 matches with the game ending when only one player remains. In order to win, players need to strategically choose the best mix of champions from a randomized pool. Players need to upgrade their forces through items and come up with winning battle formations. Riot Games hopes that with TFT, League of Legends can gain a foothold in what is clearly an emerging genre.
In a statement, TFT Product Manager Richar Henkel revealed that the development teams at Riot “believe in making big commitments to our players and fans, from updating the game every two weeks to creating seasonal events and game modes.” He went on to say that they have seen how player interest has started to pick up in this specific genre. “We hope League of Legends fans are excited to see the game’s signature art, style, and deep gameplay come to life in this new mode,” Henkel said in a press statement.
The beginnings of the autobattler genre can be traced to Dota Auto Chess, a Dota 2 mode developed by Drodo Studio. The mode gained a lot of players, and Drodo eventually made the decision to come up with their own version to release on mobile platforms. Drodo's version is not able to use many of the Dota 2 characters, since the IP rights belong to Valve.
Valve later revealed that it was developing its own version. Initially, Valve wanted to work with Drodo for Dota Auto Chess. It eventually resulted in the two developers reaching a conclusion that while they would not be able to work with each other, they can continue to support one another.
Teamfight Tactics enters League of Legends PBE today, June 11. The game mode is scheduled to be available to all players beginning June 25.
